Subtle Changes
by VixenOfTheWolves
Summary: Kyo is missing and Yuki is the one who had to look for him. When Yuki finds him in the woods by a lake he is singing. How will this affect the Prince? Short and sweet. Slight Yuki X Kyo. Oneshot for now…


Hey everyone! Vixen here, presenting you with a brand new Fruits Basket story,

ta-daa! Actually the idea just came to me while listening to the song 'Outside Living In' by Jordan Pruitt. And it was made only as a one-shot but if anyone thinks it good or worth pursuing then please don't hesitate to mention. If enough people say so then I might be able to…fix something up.

Silence enveloped the woods surrounding the Sohma property, broken only by a small woodland creature or the twittering of a bird. Yes everything was right in the world. All was peaceful. It was too peaceful.

Yuki was in his room doing homework and was getting quite hungry as he stomach pointed out by grumbling it's complaints every few minutes. He tried to concentrate but the sweet smell of Tohru's mouth-watering cooking eventually drew him from the quiet darkness of his room.

The Prince crept down the stairs and turned left, peeking into the kitchen. There, as expected, was the sweet air-head herself, Tohru Honda.

Tohru looked up from the miso soup she had not long started to cook when she heard Yuki entering.

"Oh, hi Yuki. Lunch will be ready soon if you're hungry." She said, smiling lightly as she always did. Yuki nodded. "I was beginning to get a little hungry." He lied.

"I thought you might." The brunette said more to herself than anything as she turned back to pot in front of her.

Yuki turned to wait in the dining room when Tohru turned to him abruptly.

"Oh and Yuki, have you seen Kyo anywhere? He wasn't there at breakfast and he must be getting hungry…" She said quietly, concern evident in her voice. Yuki looked surprised. "Um, no…But do you want me to go look for him?" The silver haired teenager offered. Tohru smiled a relieved smile as she gently but enthusiastically nodded once before returning to her cooking.

Now while it was true that the Rat and the Cat hated each other, Yuki couldn't help getting…_accustomed _to that stupid cat's presence. And it was more than a little unusual for the other teenage boy to be so quiet. And he hadn't challenged Yuki in _days_! So it was only natural that he would at least want to check and make sure the Cat hadn't up and died on them. After all it would break poor Miss Honda's heart if such a thing were to happen.

After checking all Kyo's usual hiding spots he decided to look in the forest.

It was so peaceful in the woods of one Shigure Sohma's property. The sun shone down as if smiling warmly from above. Brightly coloured birds flitted in and out of trees and creatures of all shapes and sizes were wandering idly around the leaf-littered floor. Yuki felt so safe, so at peace.

Suddenly a soft, low voice penetrated his thoughts.

"_You don't know my name…"_

A confused and curious look crossed Yuki's face. The voice sounded familiar somehow.

"_You don't know anything about me…"_

The voice got louder as Yuki got closer.

"_I try to play nice  
I want to be in your game…"_

Yuki peered through the bushes up into the face of someone he knew well.

'Whoever thought the Cat could sing,' Yuki thought idly.

"_The things that you say  
You may think I never hear about them  
But word travels fast  
I'm telling you to your face  
I'm standing here behind your back_

You don't know how it feels  
To be outside the crowd  
You don't know what it's like  
To be left out  
And you don't know how it feels  
To be your own best friend on the outside looking in…"

Listening to the sad tone in his voice Yuki felt something stir within him. The raw emotions that filled his glorious crimson eyes, the way his hair shone in the midmorning light, his naturally tanned skin so contrast to his own…Why hadn't he ever noticed these things before?

"_If you could read my mind  
You might see more of me that meets the eye  
And you've been all wrong  
Not who you think I am  
You've never given me a chance…"_

It's because he'd never taken the time to actually _look _at Kyo. He'd never heard this much pain in his voice before. All those other times when they'd been fighting or he had remorsefully been muttering about his social inabilities, he seemed to be pretending, they just seemed so _fake_! But now he knew it was because he kept his real pain inside. He wasn't singing about the Sohma family or its curse. For whom he didn't know but he knew it wasn't them he was grieving for.

"_You don't know how it feels  
To be outside the crowd  
You don't know what it's like  
To be left out  
And you don't know how it feels  
To be your own best friend on the outside looking in_

You don't know how it feels  
To be outside the crowd  
You don't know what it's like  
To be left out  
And you don't know how it feels  
To be your own best friend… 

_On the outside looking in…"_

Yuki crept away back to the house before he was noticed. But as he walked back he made a promise to himself and to Kyo that he would be nicer to the boy, get to know him, maybe even… No, let's just make it past the first hurdle.

Lunch was delicious and everyone was there, Kyo having returned little after Yuki.

Yuki leant into his palm and stared at the orange haired boy across from him. The boy in question looked up and his crimson eyes met with deep purple and stared into them just a moment longer than necessary before looking away in annoyance. "Stop staring at me you damn rat! Creepin' me out…" Kyo snapped.

"I wasn't looking at you! Stupid cat." Yuki retaliated. And Kyo wasn't the one to notice the remark had much less bite than usual. As Yuki went back to eating he couldn't hide the small smile the lurked around his lips.

Yes, everything was right in the world…


End file.
